In 2010 Prog tracked down some of Peter Gabriel’s collaborators on his solo and soundtrack albums, with the intention of offering an inside view of working with the Progfather – as we’d dubbed him, much to his amusement. While we were at it, we also asked some of prog’s biggest names if they had any opinions on the former Genesis frontman’s career. They didn’t disappoint.
Bob Ezrin – Producer, Peter Gabriel 1 (Car)
If there’s anything that made me work with Peter Gabriel in the first place it was his natural sense of humility. Humility in the Christian sense of the word, in that he’s a humble guy. I was impressed that a person that brilliant can also hold himself on such a realistic level of esteem.
All I know is that Peter played me Here Comes The Flood in my living room on our first meeting. I was in the middle of producing albums for both Kiss and Alice Cooper, working on tight deadlines. In the midst of all that I went to bed singing Here Comes The Flood instead of my own records! There’s not many songs I’ve heard fresh from the writer’s mouth that are that great.
Robert Fripp – Guitarist / producer, Peter Gabriel 2 (Scratch)
Peter’s second album is a much subtler proposition that tells a lot on the production side. I think it is impossible to judge unless one has listened to it at least a dozen times. Peter was afraid of using me as a producer. He knew that my production would not be “commercial” and he was right. I was not guaranteeing any hit.
What I wanted was to record him faithfully. I could have produced two or three cuts only and let Bob Ezrin do the others. So it was with some reserves on Peter’s commercial interests that I was chosen to produce the album.
Steve Lillywhite – Producer, Peter Gabriel 3 (Melt)
I think a lot of people have quoted Peter’s third album as being a new departure in sound. I see Peter as a really important artist. He’s extremely talented, but he has to push himself. It doesn’t come easy, unlike Phil Collins. Things probably come easier to Phil than to anyone I’ve ever met. And things come more difficult to Peter than to anyone I’ve ever met. He will put off making a decision until the last possible moment, – but that’s only because he doesn’t con himself into thinking he knows what he’s doing.
David Lord – co-producer, Peter Gabriel 4 (Security)
I like the way he really perseveres and struggles through things that you might not think would work. I could be sure he wouldn’t get a song out of an idea; sure that he was going round in circles and not getting anywhere – but he always knew at the end of it he would.
He doesn’t like being proved wrong, though he’s not dogmatic. Most of the people I think are interesting musically would regard Peter as being influential, though I don’t know how much effect he has had on the mainstream hit parade stuff.
Alan Parker – director, Birdy
We got on so well; he’s such a sweet man. It was such a refreshing change from working with megalomaniacs like Roger Waters.
Peter’s record company were very difficult to begin with, and so I phoned them to ask if they’d mind if Peter took a little time to do Birdy. They said as long as it didn’t take more than a couple of months, because he was already a year late or something.
He had strong views and I would never be able to persuade him to do something he didn’t feel comfortable with – but we didn’t have any confrontation as such.
Tony Levin – bassist, So
On Big Time I asked the drummer, Jerry Marotta, to play on the bass strings while I did the fingering – not a new idea, but what is?! Then, live, I was attempting to play that part with a drumstick in my hand. One day at soundcheck, Peter looked at me and said: “why don’t you attach sticks to your fingers?”
What a great idea! I asked my tech, Andi Moore, to help devise a way to do it, and voila, Funk Fingers! Of course, the first sets broke the bass strings – some adjustments had to be made!.
Martin Scorsese – director, The Last Temptation Of Christ
I began listening to Peter’s music back in 1982-83 and I especially liked Rhythm Of The Heat with its drums, and then I Go Swimming where the lyrics start quite ordinarily before taking off to reach a spiritual level – especially in the live version.
I said I’d be interested in having him do the music for The Last Temptation Of Christ because, for me, the rhythms he uses reflect the primitive and his vocals reflect the sublime – it’s as if the spirit and the flesh are together right there.
Of course, he had to do it as a labour of love because there was hardly any money in it. Normally, he says, it takes two years to do 40 minutes of music, and this was two hours and 40 minutes, which he did in three months!
Daniel Lanois – producer, Us
It’s true that Peter likes detail, but he also likes performance a lot. Having watched him for a long time now, I know this is the aspect of recording that he enjoys the most: giving it hell and jamming it out with the band. His attention to detail generally goes into the area of sonic creativity. He likes to break new ground sonically and I encouraged him to spend time on that.
David Noyce – director, Long Walk Home and Rabbit Proof Fence
I think Peter’s major contribution to the film Rabbit Proof Fence was not only to underscore the drama that is the traditional function of a film composer – but he also gave the film a poetry. Peter was largely responsible for allowing the audience to really participate in the emotions that were at play in the story.
What he said to me at first was: “I want to do a score that comes out of the earth. I want to do a score that expresses the Aboriginal ’oneness’ with their land.” He said he wanted me to provide him with all the real sounds that would be used in the effects and atmosphere track of the film – birds, insects, winds, rain, water, all sorts of animal sounds.
He then sampled, programmed and synthesised these sounds, and made them part of his score.
Richard Chappell – engineer, Up
I think Peter invited Tchad Blake because he was producing himself and wanted to have a fresh pair of ears towards the end of the project to keep things under control. Tchad is very strong-willed – having someone like him around is a good discipline. We tried out a few songs with him, and Peter liked the results, so we kept going.
Tchad is a genius with what he can do sonically. Peter would be in here recording things with me for the same song that Tchad was mixing, and we’d walk towards the main building to add these things to the mix. Tchad would either agree or disagree, and they’d have to figure out between them what was going to be used.
Not only… but also:
Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull: “Peter Gabriel’s work has always been admirable and innovative, from the arty, theatrical beginnings of Genesis through to his latest, sans guitar and drums covers. He defies convention and searches out the deeper and more satisfying reaches of rock music without it ever losing all popular and commercial appeal. Clever chap, that Gabriel!”
Doug Pinnick, King’s X: “I’ve been a fan since Genesis – Sledgehammer is one of the funkiest jams there is. And the man has soul.”
Arthur Brown: “Peter’s modesty has not hidden the immensity of his achievements. His generosity and integrity matched his love for worldwide music. He carried out a vision. To do that you need strength and courage.”
Sonja Kristina: “Curved Air and Genesis shared the same bill in 1970. Peter was very shy and silent offstage, yet very extrovert and eccentric in his performance on stage. His first solo album was one of the few albums that really engaged me.”
Tom Morello, Rage Against The Machine: “He’s one of my all-time favourite artists. His song Biko is as moving and inspiring as any song I’ve ever heard. He is a true artist who brings a powerful poetic, musical and humanistic vision to life in his work.”
Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters: “He’s a unique character. He’s got the artistic integrity of Neil Young and the constant restiveness to push the envelope of David Bowie. I’d still love him to do some shows with the great Genesis line-up though!"
Carmine Appice: “I love Peter Gabriel’s genius – all his theatrical masks. His approach and voice are unique. He’s a great, innovative talent.”
Steven Wilson: “Peter is one of a small group of innovators that completely deconstructed the blueprint of popular music and reinvented it as something fresh. As a producer and a songwriter he’s been an inspiration to me.”
Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater: “I have a deep appreciation for his Genesis years, obviously. Foxtrot, Selling England and The Lamb are landmark prog albums. But unlike many prog icons who went solo, Peter Gabriel continued to push the envelope with each album. His solo albums are as close to studio perfection as you can get.”
Roye Albrighton, Nektar: “The guy is innovative. My all-time favourite tracks with him are Carpet Crawlers and Don’t Give Up – the latter is a truly moving piece.”
Trevor Rabin: “Peter Gabriel is a true artist. He never ’settles’ – he’s always pushing, from Foxtrot to Sledgehammer. I love him.”
